Emergency Heroes Interview

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Reflections Studio tells us all about its Wii-exclusive futuristic racer.

By Matt Casamassina

Reflections Ubisoft is a new name for a veteran development house. The company formerly known as Reflections Interactive created some acclaimed driving franchises, from Destruction Derby to Driver and Stuntman. Recently, Ubisoft acquired the software maker and it has ever since been hard at work on a Wii-exclusive futuristic racer known as Emergency Heroes -- absolutely not to be confused with the Taxi Driver clone Emergency Mayhem. Below, Reflections answers some common questions about its racer and clears up some common misconceptions. We've also posted some exclusive new game screens.

Q: Coincidentally, a very similar game with a very similar name, Emergency Mayhem, is releasing around the same window as your game. Can you clear up what the differences are between these two games?

A: The main difference is that Emergency Heroes is really focused on driving. Right from the start of the design, everything was geared toward Emergency Heroes (EH) being an intense and fun driving experience. The vehicles in EH are fundamental to game play, and every mission requires a range of driving abilities provided by that vehicle. For example, the EMT is all about making crazy jumps to impossible-to-get-to locations, while the cops do lots of chasing and smashing.

The game features simple, but polished graphics.

We are confident that, as a result, we have delivered some of the best driving ever seen on the Wii. There are plenty of mini- and party-games out there for the Wii, including Emergency Mayhem, but that's not what our game is about. Once players have the chance to experience EH for themselves, there will be no confusion about the two games.

Q: What was the best part of developing Emergency Heroes?

A: There are two main things we really enjoyed. Firstly, there was the challenge of the Wii and working with its very unique interface. One of our goals was to make the game easy enough for younger kids to pick up and play, whilst also providing enough depth and subtlety in the controls and handling for older, more demanding players to enjoy as well. The controller creates opportunities for doing this in ways that we couldn't with traditional controllers. It's a very new and interesting way to work, and also very rewarding.

Secondly, we really enjoyed the freedom of creating our own universe for this game. There was no reference or existing source material – it was all up to us to develop the look and feel of everything, from the buildings to the vehicles to the characters. We could create anything we wanted, and this was a great opportunity for our art director; he has a lot of cool ideas in his head and this was a chance to express some of them.

Q: How did Ubisoft come up with the concept of the game?

A: There were two main aims for the game – one was to create a driving game where kids felt like they were playing with the coolest toy cars ever. The other was to create a feeling of being heroic though driving. We combined these aims and came up with EH.

Not to be confused with Emergency Mayhem.

Q: Do you think working with the Wii has helped you create an experience that you simply couldn't have on any other console?

A: For us, a game experience is more than just a collection of technologies; it's about how you can play a game and with whom. In EH, players must use the wheel and physically make turns and hold power slides. This creates an increased level of immersion, where the player can really interact with the driving. It also increases the accessibility of the game: people who have been put off by games using a pad and eight buttons will feel more at home with a familiar wheel-shaped controller. This opens the game up to a whole new audience, and further adds to the experience. So, not only has the Wii helped, it has been essential!

Q: How has your past experience developing driving titles helped you with Emergency Heroes?A: It has helped a huge amount. As a developer, getting the feel and handling of the vehicles is one of our key strengths, and is one of the most important factors in creating a believable and fun driving experience.

Having worked on so many different handling types in the past, we had a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve for EH.

We also have a lot of experience creating open worlds, AI traffic systems, and complex missions, which are all essential elements of EH.

Q: What do you think makes Emergency Heroes truly stand out in today's marketplace?

A: First and foremost, it's a great driving game, and designed specifically for the Wii. Also, we think that it looks great. Mostly though, we believe we have created an experience for non-gamers that won't alienate more hardcore players – it's one of the few games that can be enjoyed by a seven-year-old and his 15-year-old brother at the same time!

Young rescuers can jump into 16 different variations of next-generation rescue vehicles as a police officer, firefighter or EMT and navigate through the sprawling streets of San Alto, keeping citizens safe along the way.